The Grateful Dead will celebrate their 50th anniversary next year, and they’re marking the occasion with a film executive produced by Martin Scorsese and billed as “their first official career-spanning documentary.”

Directed by documentarian Amir Bar-Lev, whose previous credits include ‘Happy Valley’ and ‘The Tillman Story,’ the as-yet untitled feature is currently in production, and promises what a press release describes as “a cornucopia of never before seen performance footage, vintage interviews and other candid moments unearthed from the Grateful Dead’s vast vaults along with newly captured conversations with surviving members Mickey Hart, Bill Kreutzmann, Phil Lesh and Bob Weir, as well as many other characters and pranksters from the Dead universe.”

“Millions of stories have been told about the Grateful Dead over the years,” enthused Hart, Kreutzmann, Lesh, and Weir in a statement. “With our 50th Anniversary coming up, we thought it might just be time to tell one ourselves and Amir is the perfect guy to help us do it. Needless to say, we are humbled to be collaborating with Martin Scorsese. From ‘The Last Waltz‘ to ‘George Harrison: Living in the Material World,’ from Bob Dylan to the Rolling Stones, he has made some of the greatest music documentaries ever with some of our favorite artists, and we are honored to have him involved. The 50th will be another monumental milestone to celebrate with our fans and we cannot wait to share this film with them.”

Bar-Lev, for his part, says he’s been trying to get this movie made for a full decade, and Scorsese vowed to deliver a viewing experience that will tell the group’s story while satisfying longtime fans, saying, “The Grateful Dead were more than just a band. They were their own planet, populated by millions of devoted fans. I’m very happy that this picture is being made and proud to be involved.”

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